YOUTH: Fight Scandal By Giving Witness

SOURCE

Cindy Wooden/Catholic News Service

Members of the Catholic Church sin and give scandal, it’s true, Pope Francis said, but it is up to each Catholic to live the faith as authentically as possible and witness to the world the love of Jesus.

PUBLISHED ON

Nov 2018

“The best way to respond is with witness,” the pope said in response to a young man who said, “The useless pomp and frequent scandals have made the church barely credible in our eyes.”

Pope Francis spoke about witness, dreams and true love during an evening meeting with some 70,000 young adults, aged 16 to 30, gathered at Rome’s Circus Maximus at the end of a pilgrimage. Most of them had walked at least 50 miles over the previous three or four days. Representatives came from 195 of Italy’s 226 dioceses, and 150 bishops walked at least part of the way with groups from their dioceses.

Five young people were chosen to share their stories with the crowd and ask Pope Francis questions. They asked his advice about keeping their dreams alive when the future seems so uncertain, how to prepare to marry and start a family and how to get church leaders to listen to them rather than preach at them.

Young people should run with the same passion for Jesus, Pope Francis said. “The church needs your enthusiasm, your intuitions, and your faith. And when you arrive where we have not yet been, have the patience to wait for us like John waited for Peter before the empty tomb.”